Pictured: Music Compound instructors Taylor Galford (far left) and Iain Harris (third from left) lead fellow instructors and students during a rehearsal of the tribute to Pink Floyd's seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon. Photo courtesy of Music Co

This Friday, October 20th, from 8-9:30 pm, music instructors Iain Harris and Taylor Galford will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s seminal album The Dark Side of The Moon with a tribute concert at local music school, Music Compound.

“Here at Music Compound, we normally have a monthly concert with the members, half of which are themed. October is always Rocktober which made me think that we should play something by Pink Floyd,” says Harris. “As I started writing down what songs we could do I thought to myself, well this is like half of The Dark Side of The Moon album. Why don’t we just do the whole album? It’s one of those ideas that’s so blindly ambitious that I thought, well I’ve thought of it, so now we have to do it.”

The concert, which will feature 22 students and 11 staff members, will be a full 45 minute run through of the album with no breaks in between songs. “People are going to be running on and off the stage, swapping out instruments song by song, it really is a collaborative effort by the whole school. It’s by far the most ambitious thing we’ve ever attempted to do which is really exciting,” says Harris. “It’s a complete, contained work. Taylor has worked to create backing tracks and sound effects–all the instruments will be live of course–but if you know the album, then you know that there’s various sound effects like heart beats and cash registers that complete the work.”

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the concert and Music Compound as a whole is the accessibility factor of the program. While participants in this particular concert had to have a particular level of skill, it is a Pink Floyd album after all, the age range and experience level varies widely from musician to musician. “We say that Music Compound is for all people of all ages and all abilities. It’s an environment where everyone can come together and be creative,” says Harris. “We have musicians in their early teens up to retirement age playing together in this concert. There’s various lineups of different songs and instrumental sections where people who could be grandparents and grandchildren are playing together. It really is a communal event.”

Friday, October 20 8-9:30 pm, Music Compound SRQ, 1751 Cattlemen Rd, Sarasota.

Pictured: Music Compound instructors Taylor Galford (far left) and Iain Harris (third from left) lead fellow instructors and students during a rehearsal of the tribute to Pink Floyd's seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon. Photo courtesy of Music Co

To learn more, visit.